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Friday, February 27, 2015

This Quinoa Side Dish has extra flavor from Pine Nuts, Green Onions, and Cilantro (or use flat leaf parsley if you're not a cilantro fan.)

(For Friday Flashbacks I feature favorite recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and this Quinoa Side Dish with Pine Nuts, Green Onions and Cilantro is a quinoa recipe that was really a wow for me. This is also one of my easy Five Ingredients recipes; hope you enjoy!)

How do you feel about quinoa? It's something I was slow to warm up to, and for a long time I didn't think I'd ever be much of a quinoa fan. Then I made Quinoa Salad with Avocado, Radishes, Cucumbers, and Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette, followed by Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad and Southwestern Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Red Bell Pepper, and Cilantro and I was surprised to discover how much I liked it. This Quinoa Side Dish with Pine Nuts, Green Onions, and Cilantro may be my favorite quinoa recipe yet. The quinoa is sauteed in oil for a few minutes before it's cooked in chicken or vegetable stock, and then a generous amount of toasted pine nuts and chopped green onion and a little chopped cilantro is stirred in before it's eaten warm. If you're not a cilantro lover, I think chopped flat-leaf parsley could also be used here. And if you haven't had quinoa yet, this is a recipe you should definitely try.

Most quinoa has to be rinsed to remove a natural coating called saponin. Rinse until there is no foaminess, and then let the quinoa drain.

Heat the oil in a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, add the rinsed quinoa and saute for 3-4 minutes, or until the quinoa starts to smell slightly toasted.

Add the chicken or vegetable stock (it will sputter a little). Give the mixture a stir, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pan, and cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

While the quinoa cooks, toast the pine nuts in a dry pan just until they smell toasted. (This will take only 1-2 minutes at high heat; don't let pine nuts get too brown or they'll taste bitter.) Pine nuts have gotten very expensive, so if they aren't in the budget I'd use slivered almonds.

When the liquid is all absorbed, let the quinoa sit covered for five minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Stir in the toasted pine nuts, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro. This is meant to be served warm, but I ate some leftovers the next day right out of the fridge and it was really good that way as well!

Check the package to see if the quinoa needs to be rinsed, and if it does put quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse with cold water until no more foam appears; let quinoa drain at least 5 minutes.

Heat the oil in a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add quinoa and saute for 3-4 minutes, or until the quinoa starts to smell toasted. Add the chicken or vegetable stock, being careful if the stock sputters up from the hot pan. Add Vege-Sal or salt, stir and bring the mixture to a boil; then lower heat to a simmer and let the quinoa cook covered for 15 minutes (or until all the liquid is absorbed.)

While quinoa cooks, toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan over high heat, just until the nuts smell toasted. (This will only take 1-2 minutes if the heat is high; don't let the pine nuts get too brown or they will taste bitter.)

Quinoa is a high-protein seed which is eaten as a grain. It's approved for phase 2 or 3 of the South Beach Diet. Quinoa is relatively high in carbs, even though it's also rich in protein and has fiber. Use portion control if you're eating this for any type of carb-conscious diet.

Nutritional Information?
I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

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43 comments:

Kalyn, what would you describe the texture of quinoa like? Is it anything like cous cous? I've seen it popping up more and more frequently but as I've never tasted it or cooked with it, I'm hesitant to actually buy it :(

Ellie, I'd say quinoa is quite a bit like couscous, with a bit more texture because of the little sprouts on the quinoa. The flavor isn't strong, so it takes well to all kinds of flavorings.

I'm so glad people are liking the sound of this one; there is a very small amount of cilantro, and I think any number of herbs might work or the cilantro could even be left out. Lydia, I like the sound of mint.

I have liked quinoa from the start, but I think I like it cold in salads best. I usually make it with spinach, feta, black olives, lemon ,olive oils and seasoning. I will try yours for sure, sounds really good, except how expensive pine nuts have gotten.

I love quinoa... and every other ingredient you have in this recipe! I'm always looking for new ways to enjoy it, but my odl favorite is a bit of earth balance and nutritional yeast. That combo reminds me of mac 'n cheese :)

We enjoy quinoa. Hubby prefers it more as a hot dish like rice, but I really like it in salads like this one, Kalyn. I've made quinoa taboulleh before for a crowd and it went quickly. Only two folks knew what the quinoa was, but everyone enjoyed it. Oh, and it actually was more like this recipe because I used cilantro vs mint. I love this recipe with the green onions and pine nuts though. :-)

Just made this quinoa dish this afternoon. Didn't have pine nuts, so I used slivered almonds as suggested. One word...addictive! I love all the green onions and how they pair with the quinoa. Thanks for sharing!

Another Kalyn Recipe was a hit at our dinner last night. I made this for company last night as a side dish to grilled chicken (I have a huge bag of quinoa from Costco to use). Everyone raved how delicious it was and I had just a smidgen to send home leftovers with our guests. Next time I'll make sure that I double the recipe!

I don't usually make new recipes when company is coming over, but your recipes haven't disappointed me yet and I knew I could count on you and your blog! Thanks Kalyn for all of the work you do to keep us all on top of our SB Efforts! You are wonderful! Teresa in Texas

Thanks for joining the conversation! I love hearing from readers and even though I can't always reply to every comment, I will always answer specific questions on a recipe as soon as possible. Sometimes I'm answering by iPhone, so my replies may be short!

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